Robert E. Murray asked God to forgive America for voting for Barack Obama and then fired 156 people, and he’s not the only one.

Murray explained that the layoffs were inevitable in light of Obama’s re-election. He’s not the only coal baron to cite the president as the cause of the industry’s supposed death knell. CONSOL Energy Inc. President Nicholas Deluliis blamed Obama for 145 planned layoffs, while Alpha Natural Resources CEO Kevin Crutchfield cited the Obama-created “regulatory environment” as the basis for 1,200 job cuts this fall. Other coal executives poured millions into (ultimately ineffective) anti-Obama super PACs. The Romney campaign itself tried to stoke anger against the administration to win over voters in coal-rich Ohio, echoing the coal CEOs’ invectives against Obama and his environmental regulation.

There’s a slight flaw, however, in this blame game: It’s almost entirely made-up. Obama has indeed increased regulation over the coal industry to limit output of carbon and mercury, mandating that older plants update their scrubbers. But his efforts have been fairly mild and nonaggressive, and the regulations—which have the benefit of protecting Americans from mercury poisoning—aren’t cripplingly costly to coal companies.